Page 18 of Keeping His Brat

Most of it was in investments and would continue to grow over time. With a place to live and steady income from the ranch she hadn’t needed to close out those accounts. According to the lawyer they were all doing well so she’d left it alone for except for what she’d withdrawn for the house.

He wouldn’t let her plunge it all into the ranch like she wanted, and he figured as her Daddy he had a right to say no to that. But otherwise, how she spent it, or what she spent it on was her business. Charlie was too smart to need him policing her funds for her. She wasn’t the frivolous type and probably knew more about budgeting than he did anyway.

It didn’t really bother him that she had more money than he did, but he was old fashioned enough to want to support her no matter what she had in the bank. In practical ways that was basically impossible since she owned half of the ranch and the big house was all hers too. But when it came to going out somewhere, he paid, and he didn’t let her argue him out of it.

That was no hardship now. In addition to his share of the ranch dividends, he still received his salary as foreman. That might change if he hired someone who had the experience and skill enough to be foreman. As assistant they could probably cover out of the ranch funds, but if he gave up the foreman job and stepped back into the owner’s role things might get a little tight.

He was going to have to crunch the numbers before he made a decision. If it left him without enough money to do anything he planned, then there wasn’t much point.

So far there hadn’t been any awkwardness between them when it came to money, and there never would be as long as he was making enough to pay a fair share of things. He supposed financials were something they’d eventually have to discuss anyway, but he didn’t see any reason for it to matter unless they got married.

Marriage—that was another thing that had been on his mind lately.

Charlie had commitment issues. For as long as he’d known her, she’d been anti-marriage and even settling her into a relationship had been hard, but then her mother had shown up like a cyclone, unexpectedly and with a lot of damage left behind her. She’d shaken their bond, but in the end maybe some of it had been for the best. Charlie seemed more settled now, more willing to commit.

Hell, she’d even asked him to marry her and about shocked them both to death doing it. He’d been tempted to say yes immediately and lock her in before she changed her mind. Instead, he’d done the right thing and told her to wait until she was less upset about her mom. But since that day it had been in the back of his head.

Was Charlie going to get up the courage to ask again? Or hint that she wanted him to? Or had he blown his one chance to put a ring on her finger? Those were the kind of questions that woke him up at night.

And he didn’t honestly know why it mattered. Their relationship wouldn’t be any more or less stable because of a legal certificate. A vow wasn’t going to hold a marriage together if it was wanting to break apart and Charlie knew that better than anyone.

But he wanted it. He wanted to stand in front of all their friends and slide that ring on her finger while he promised to cherish her.

“Sam? Earth to Sam, you in there?”

Sam blinked and jerked back. “Sorry what?” He was standing in a stall, supposedly replacing a board. One of the horses, Devil of course, had kicked it repeatedly until it had broken. Now the splintered wood was a danger that had to be removed.

Mike was looking at him with an odd expression. “You really seemed zoned out there, kid. You feeling all right?”

“I think I’m coming down with something.” Sam took a look at the work he’d be doing, or rather not doing, and sighed. He’d been in there nearly a half hour and hadn’t even finished prying the old wood free yet. “Been feeling like crap since I got up this morning and my head is killing me.” His skin had that hot tight feeling that suggested a fever too.

“Maybe you want to clear out early? We can cover. It’s not like there’s anything important going down today.”

Sam thought about it for a second and then nodded. “Might be a good idea at that.” But things didn’t end up going down that way. He patted his pockets for his phone and then frowned when he found them empty.

“Where did I leave my—oh, there it is,” he said, interrupting himself as he saw it balanced on the wall. He had a faint memory of receiving a call earlier and then setting the phone up there when he was done for some reason.

As he reached for it, things went sideways. He managed to jam his leg into the splintered wall as he picked it up. He let out a startled yelp. His arm flailed and sent the phone flying across the stall where it landed in a bucket of water with a splash.

“Fuck!”

Mike was trying hard not to explode into laughter, and Sam watched as he turned away, shoulders shaking suspiciously.

Sam rolled his eyes and went over to stare down into the bucket. “Yeah, yeah, very funny. Except now I have to find time to replace it. Got an old spare I’ll have to set up in the meantime. Do me a favor and let everyone know my phone’s off for a while,” he said.

It was followed by an irritated grumble as he shoved his hand into the cold water to retrieve it. Hadn’t he heard you could dry it out with rice or something?Maybe Charlie knows, he thought. It wasn’t that old, and the damn things were so expensive, he hated to have to buy a new one.

“No problem, Sam, but I think this is proof you really should go home and rest.” Mike’s voice was filled with amusement.

Sam wouldn’t blame him. “Yeah, I will. Just need to finish up a couple things first.” He headed towards his office in the back of the barn, limping slightly. The wood hadn’t pierced through the thick denim, but it felt like it had left solid bruise anyway.

First thing he did was close the door and check to make sure it wasn’t anything worse. Wounds on a ranch were nothing to joke about and ignoring them could cause some serious infection. But it didn’t look too bad; he’d have to give it a better look later to be sure.

His palm pulsed in reminder that it wasn’t the only injury he had. He opened his hand and examined the slice he’d gotten from the barbed wire. It was red and puffy. Not a great sign, but he had been working all day so maybe it was just aggravated.

He opened the large, well-stocked first aid kit and pulled out a bottle of antiseptic, just in case. The burn as he splashed the cut made him wince. He flexed his hand, testing the soreness, but it didn’t seem too bad.

It was a relief to sink into his creaky old chair and for a second he just sat there as dizziness swept through him. The vertigo came close to making him lose his lunch all over the floor, but it settled down after a second.

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